Endangered white-tailed prairie dog petition reviewed
JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Friday, March 12, 2004 12:00 am
GREEN RIVER - Federal officials will have until October to respond to a petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the white-tailed prairie dog under an agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservationists.
A coalition of conservation groups reached a settlement with the Service this week that will give the agency until Oct. 31 to make a preliminary finding on the group's petition.
The coalition in 2002 petitioned the Service to list the white-tailed prairie dog as threatened or endangered in accordance with ESA requirements.
When issued in October, the preliminary 90-day finding will be more than two years late.
Officials with the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance labeled the agreement a "court victory" and said the Service needs to act soon to prevent more loss of white-tailed prairie dog populations and habitat.
USFWS spokesperson Diane Katzenberger said issuing a finding in October should allow time for a multi-state inventory of prairie dog populations and habitat to be completed and included in the preliminary finding.
"We are glad to see the USFWS finally meeting its statutory deadline to rule on our petition," the alliance's Jeff Kessler said in a phone interview.
"Given the level of industrial development taking place in the Red Desert and elsewhere where these prairie dogs make their home … it's very important that the Service move forward with a decision," he said.
The coalition is led by the Center for Native Ecosystems and includes the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Forest Guardians, the American Lands Alliance, Sinapu and the Ecology Center, and other individuals.
In July 2002, the coalition filed a petition with the USFWS asking that the white-tailed prairie dog be listed as threatened or endangered in accordance with ESA requirements.
The groups charged declining habitat and populations of the animal have left the species in peril and white-tailed prairie dogs face enough threats to meet listing requirements.
Kessler said the petition offered "extensive research, a fair amount of new information and good science," including management recommendations, to help recover the species.
The Service, however, never issued a 90-day finding on the sufficiency of the petition. The coalition then filed suit in February 2003 seeking the preliminary finding.
USFWS officials routinely cite budget constraints and heavy workloads as reasons for listing delays and Katzenberger said "that's the reality here." ESA protection for the white-tailed prairie dog would require the agency to develop a long-term recovery plan for the species and its habitat.
Katzenberger noted under a multi-state conservation agreement, states like Wyoming are in the process of developing a conservation strategy and assessment of the species, a draft of which is due out later this year.
"When we do a 90-day finding, we like to look at all of the available information … basically anything in our files or any new information that we know is upcoming, like the state assessments," Katzenberger said in a phone interview.
"If this assessment is available to us, it's actually better to have that when we do the finding for the petition," she said.
"The state's surveys … should be able to provide us with important data about the abundance and distribution of the populations and that will be very helpful information."
Biologists believe the white-tailed prairie dog now occupies about 8 percent or less of their historical territory. Habitat loss from suburban sprawl, increased agriculture, and oil and gas development has devastated prairie dog habitat and resulted in large-scale population declines.
The white-tailed prairie dog is one of five prairie dog species that includes the more numerous black-tailed prairie dog.
Two prairie dog species already are listed for federal ESA protections and federal officials have decided a black-tailed prairie dog listing is warranted, but not feasible at this time.
Kessler noted that about 70 percent of the white-tailed prairie dog's current habitat lies in Wyoming. "Wyoming is a really key state and it's a shame the Game and Fish Commission has failed to implement any sort of black-tailed or white-tailed prairie dog management plan," he said.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials had hoped the implementation of a black-tailed prairie dog plan in early 2002 - which included protections and recovery plans for the white-tailed prairie dog as well - would have avoided, or at least delayed, a petition to list either species.
But the commission decided to not accept or implement the department's draft plan and said state money should be spent on priorities other than prairie dog management.
Like most Western states, Wyoming lists the white-tailed and black-tailed prairie dogs as a non-game animal, which means the rodent can be hunted year round. The Wyoming Department of Agriculture classifies the prairie dog as a pest worthy of shooting or poisoning.